As Book Discussion Groups Get Mainstream Popular Again: Favorite Book Club Books via Reading Group Choices

Over the 26 years that I have been a librarian and led book discussions and book discussion leader training programs, I have seen the popularity of book discussions wax and wane. And now is one of those times when in person book discussion groups are becoming more ubiquitous across more libraries.

Need more proof? Just the other day, Roxanne Gay (she whose books are HUGE book discussion group favorites) had this essay in the LA Times on how she went from a book club skeptic to devotee. You can read that essay at this link.

Whether your library hosts book discussion groups or helps connect your community based book groups with discussable titles or a combination of both, access to resources you can use to identify the best book choices is key.

When you are looking at potential book discussion books there are many factors to consider. In my Recharge Your Book Club training program, I list the bare minimum requirements for discussable books on Slide 11:

• Ease of acquiring

• Explores basic human truths

• 3-dimensional characters

• Ambiguous endings

• Unique style, frame, or setting

• Diverse points of view

• Doorways not mirrors

• Media sensations or current events: tread with caution!

• Proven winners…backlist

I want to focus on those last 2 bullet points today. First, media sensations. You know, the books everyone is discussing, the titles chosen by the popular celebrity book clubs, and those buzzy, zeitgeist titles I wrote about last week here. You need to be careful about choosing these books when they are at their peak. Not only will they be hard for you to make available for your patrons, but (and this leads to the last bullet point), they might not actually make for good discussions.

When a book is so buzzy, often it is being picked up by book discussion groups because they want to be part of the buzz; however, when we are talking about people who come to the library for their book discussions, we also know that these people care about a professionally moderated experience. They are willing to miss out on the buzziest books to have a better discussion. They also more willing to give an off the beaten path title a try.

(Side note, once or twice a year, I love to take a break from the required reading aspects of book discussions and ask people to come to just talk about the books they have read and loved outside of the group. I also encourage them to talk about the books they want to read. Discussion of these buzzy titles inevitably comes up. Inevitably someone has read them as well and a mini discussion occurs. This is also a nice respite from the grind meetings especially for you. It gives everyone a chance to connect as readers and book lovers. And every single time, the next time you do this, people have read books they heard about at this meeting and the discussion continues. June and December are great times for these meetings.)

Those super buzzy popular titles, some turn out to be discussion duds but more than few hang on and become discussion group favorites. But it takes time. Groups have to discuss them, tell other groups how great they are, and so on, it repeats. This takes time. Again-- that last bullet point. They need to be a year or more old to know this. 

Okay Becky, but how do I do this? How could I possibly talk to all the book clubs in the country about their experiences? Thanks for asking. It really isn't that hard because there is a free resource that does this for you-- Reading Group Choices and in particular their once a year survey of groups all over the country.

They just released their 2025 Book Club Favorites-- a crowd sourced list of the top fiction and nonfiction for book groups that they READ in 2025. Notice that does not mean the books came out in 2025.

You can always access the most recent list, and all year preceding that list in reverse chronological order at this link.

Click through to the fiction results and you will see the top 2 titles are from 2023 and 2019. You will also see Theo of Golden there. Yes this is one of the buzziest books of right now, but interestingly, this is a previously self-published title that got its start in book clubs, and those groups are exactly what propelled it to its current spotlight moment. 

99% of these titles for the 2025 survey results in fiction and nonfiction are NOT from 2025. And every single one rose to the top of a survey of hundreds of book clubs. These are the answers to the question, "what was the best book discussion book your group read in 2025?"

These survey results go back to 2003 all on this one page. But I would suggest using the last 3-4 surveys for the best results. Anything that shows up there is the definition of a proven winner and provides an excellent starting point for you to plan you book discussions going forward.

If your library has cut book discussions over the lean years and want to get started back up again, you can check out my Recharge Your Book Club slides or contact your local system to have me do this training for your area. My contact info is available here. I also can work with you by the hour to get your library ready to have book discussions again. From figuring out when to have them, to drumming up interest, to helping you create the best experience possible for your specific patrons, I have done book discussions and book discussion consulting for 26 years. I have seen it all.

My favorite events to do are when the library invites all the area book clubs to come for an event where I am the speaker. It allows the library to identify and connect with all of the local community, not in the library, book groups. They are able to collect names and set up a database, reach out to them about programming, offer help with getting their titles, see who is willing to take new members, and more. And while they are there, I talk to them about ways to make their discussions better for everyone. I did these frequently before the pandemic and I know community members still come into the library to talk about how great those programs were and even some who say I saved their group.

However you are serving your community with books discussions, the Reading Group Choices annual favorites survey is a must use resource. 

Best Historical Fiction of the Century So Far via Book Riot, with Bonus Becky Thoughts on the Appeal of HF

As I have been updating my Demystifying Genre program (most recent slides here), I keep adding new resource links. Today, as I was swapping the Book Riot link on my historical fiction slide from one discussing the best HF of the last 10 years for this brand new one, "The Best Historical Fiction Books of the Century So Far," I realized I should probably post that list here as well.

Below you can find the introduction written by the workers who created this list as well as a link to see the full annotated list. You can use this to set up displays and even use it for a Conversation Starter to Display so you can gather your patron's titles as well. Click here for more about how to do that 

A final comment about Historical Fiction in general, before we get to the list itself, one of the biggest appeal factors I have been exploring when it comes to Historical Fiction is that its popularity is tied to the fact that readers know how it is all going to turn out. You see, because historical fiction is based on real history, readers can know before the dive in what the outcome will be; maybe not for the entire book, but in general. For example, when you read The Hunger by Alma Katsu, you know they are all going to die before you start. Or if you read a WWII epic, you know Hitler will be defeated. Even if it looks good for a moment in the first example or bad in the second, readers know deep down how it is all going to play out. 

Over the last 26 years of helping readers, one of the things that pops up again and again is that readers often won't try a book, especially by an author who is new to them, if they are worried about how it will all turn out. When we suggest HF, it is a shorthand for them to have an idea of what to expect, and that peace of mind is often enough for them to give an author they have never heard of or have never tried a chance.

Thanks for sticking around for some of my thoughts about Historical Fiction and its appeal. You can see more on slide 20 of my genre presentation. Now, you can find the intro and the link to the list below:

Book Riot's The Best Historical Fiction of the Century So Far Sponsored by Thrift Books

Selecting the best recent historical fiction books feels like a contradiction in terms. Historical fiction is a broad genre, encompassing thousands of years and spanning the entire globe. It can focus on the most well-known figures of all time or highlight everyday lives that don’t typically make it into textbooks. Ironically, historical fiction feels like a timeless genre—how can historical fiction be outdated or fresh?

Despite that, the genre has changed significantly over the decades, especially since the turn of this century. World War II historical novels are still a staple of book club reading lists, and there are always new angles to take on that setting, but we’re also seeing much more diversity in the kinds of people and places historical fiction highlights.

The best historical fiction books of the century so far take us from ancient Greece to the Joseon dynasty in Korea to the Six-Day War in Palestine to 1980s NASA astronaut training. Historical fiction continues to be biased towards recent events, but we are getting to see more of history around the world than we did just a few decades ago. 

The huge scope of the genre made it difficult to put this list together. Our writers had a lot of debates about what historical fiction even is: Does it need to focus on a real historical figure? (We voted “no.”) How far back in time counts as “historical”? (The most recent time period we included is the 1980s.) 

We also nominated many more books than made it onto this final selection. Until the last minute, we added and removed titles to try to curate a selection that represents the breadth of the genre. If you’re interested in which books ended up on the cutting room floor, All Access members will receive the full list of all of our nominations soon.

To make things even more complicated, historical fiction combines seamlessly with almost every other genre, including mysteries, fantasy, romance—even sci-fi. You’ll find some of these historical genre-blending titles below, but we prioritized books that are historical fiction first, with the other genres complementing that.

Here are our picks for the best historical fiction of the century so far.

Click here to read the list

How to Predict the Buzziest Books via Book Riot Podcast and How to Help Patrons via Booklist

The April Book Riot new books podcast is all about how to try to predict what the buzziest book is going to be BEFORE it comes out. You can access the podcast and read more at this link, but here are the criteria they came up with to try to make these predictions: 

• Art – Is it good?

• Acclaim – Will it contend for awards and best-of lists?

• Sales – Where’s the money?

• Zeitgeist – What’s the buzz?

I found this list and their discussion about these 4 pillars fascinating on its own, but it also reminded me of  one of the presentations from last month's Booklist Ideas and Practice event: Four Cornerstones of Reader Interest by Heather Booth and Susan Maguire

I posted about the entire event at this link. But for short cut purposes:

• Access the recording at this link
• Access the slides at this link

Booth and Maguire listed the 4 cornerstones as Mood, Availability, Appeal, and Zeitgeist. This idea of buzzy books addressed by Book Riot above is very similar to Zeitgeist which they quickly defined as "The interest of the greater world, the community, friends, media, and more. If you scroll down here on slides you can see a few specific slides for Zeitgeist. And again you can click here to watch the recording and hear them expound on Zeitgeist and how we use it to help readers.

I really wanted to write about this presentation specifically after listening to the Book Riot podcast. The two things taken together really help to demystify the process of us helping readers when they want the buzziest books, especially when those titles seem to come out of nowhere (I'm giving you the side eye,  Theo of Golden).

I hope pairing these two separate but tangential resources helps you as much as it helped me.

Free Virtual Program with Horror Authors for All Ages Through Anderson County [SC] Library System and a Chance to Get on the HWA Libraries Mailing List

Popping in today with an invitation for every single one o you and your patrons-- all ages of patrons. Join me and best-selling authors Rory Power (YA), Lisa Springer (MG/YA), Andrew Joseph White(YA and Adult), and Nat Cassidy (Adult) as we have a conversation about horror hosted by Anderson County (SC) Library System. And it is 1 week from today! Friday, April 15th from 6-7:30pm eastern.

While anytime of year is the perfect time of year to talk about Horror, April does mark Halfway to Halloween making this month a great time to have horror programming.

I want to give a shout out to Cash from the library. She emailed "libraries at horror dot org" asking for help increasing her horror based programming. She was noticing an uptick in horror readers at all age levels in their library system and knew more programming was needed to satisfy demand.

After a phone call and a few more emails back and forth, Cash sent me a "wish list" of authors (see some of those above) and I helped to organize this event for her.

This is all part of the work the Horror Writers' Association's Libraries Committee does each and every day. As part of the HWA's 501c3 status, we provide free programming to libraries includingconnecting them to authors.

The HWA Libraries Committee is currently in the midst of a strategic planning process as well. It is going well and we will have more to share with the world by September, but in the meantime, we are gathering names of people who want to be a part of our work. We have a short form where you can share your interest and expertise with us. Click here to access that. You do not have to be a library worker to fill it out. Library supporters are welcome as well. Again, click here.

We are in the process of starting a HWA Libraries newsletter [target Fall 2026], and if you share your info with us now, we will get you on the list ASAP.

Back to next week's program-- any and all are welcome to join us, but you need to register here to get the link.

From the registration page:

Description

It's never too early to celebrate Halloween! Start the countdown by joining us for this exclusive online event, as best-selling authors Rory Power, Lisa Springer, Andrew Joseph White, and Nat Cassidy discuss the horror genre and share insights into their writing processes, moderated by horror advocate and author Becky Spratford! Now, that's something to scream about!  

While we cannot promise that every burning question will be answered, we encourage you to email us your best ones to eccstaff@andersonlibrary.org before the discussion.

I hope to see many of you there.

Booklist April 2026 Issue Has a Spotlight on Relationship Fiction and the Annual (Excellent and Genre Defying) "To Beach Their Own"

Relationship Fiction is one of our most popular genres at the public library and the recourses for it are sparse. But each year Booklist comes through with a special spotlight on it for us. And that time is now!

Before we get there, I want to talk about the evolution of this genre for a moment. When I started in libraries this genre was referred to as "Women's Fiction." It was basically considered to be books for women, about their lives, starting after the "happily ever after."

But even back when Joyce Saricks and I were teaching the RA class at the graduate school, we told our students that we didn't love the name as there wasn't a men's fiction and saying everything else was men's fiction was not helpful either. It did a disservice to these books, kept them marginalized, and did not leave room for the full breadth of stories that could be told.

And yet, reference books were written on Women's Fiction and the genre persisted. 

As the years went on, however, it changed, for the better. The genre morphed into what I describe it as today in my training programs. This is the text from Slide 17 of my Demystifying Genre presentation:

• Intimate look into lives people outside of romance.

• Sympathetic link with reader

• All relationships considered but women tend to be at forefront

• NF: Memoirs are about relationships

• Celebrity book group choices

• Kelly Jensen’s essay compilations

• Trends: marginalized voices, navigating different cultures, friendship or family relationships, cross-over with gentle reads, older adults as real people

These are stories about people, intimate stories that are meant to elicit an emotional response from the reader and they are not only about love and they are not only focused on women. Friendships, entire families, people from different cultures and LGBTQ characters are also considered. And many books have a mixture of relationships and identities.

Relationship fiction includes some of our most popular titles. Take just the first four I have on Slide 17 as an example:

• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
• The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
• Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
• Heart the Lover by Lily King

But despite the popularity of Relationship Fiction, there are very few resources to help us help readers. A lot of that goes back to its roots as being dismissed as "Women's Fiction." The genre has evlolved but the attitudes about it have not.

Which brings me back to the annual Booklist Spotlight on Relationship Fiction because it is our best resource to help these readers.

First, make sure you have all of the titles on their current list (below). Get them ordered if you don't. Second, use the link I added to pull up the backlist of recent Top 10 Relationship Fiction titles in print and audio. Third, get up a display, make lists, promote these crowd pleasing titles for all readers. 

Here is the content from the issue

Spotlight on Relationship Fiction

• Essentials: Coming of a Certain Age
• Top 10 Relationship Fiction Books: 2026
• Top 10 Relationship Fiction on Audio: 2026

And then click on this link for one-click access to the backlist of these lists for print and audio going back to 2023.

But wait, there is more. There is also the annual feature: To Beach Their Own!

That above link is the 2026 list but Booklist has been rethinking the "Beach Read" and providing a great list of option going back to 2020. Click on this link to pull them all up. These lists defy genre contractions and offer books I use for sure bet options when I am stuck for an outside the box recommendation for even the most difficult patrons. These titles, if you pull them all, make for a great display of "beach reads" or "under the radar gems."

Explore the full April 2026 issue today.

What I'm Reading: April 2026 Booklist

I have three reviews in the April 2026 issue of Booklist. One is starred and the others are very good and should be added to your library. Below is the draft review I turned in to Booklist and then I add a bunch of extra appeal info here for you.

Tomorrow, I am going to highlight the Spotlight information in this issue as well because it is chocked full of awesome RA goodness. But that is tomorrow. Let's get to those review.

First up, a spectacular short story collection from multiple Bram Stoker Award winner Gwendolyn Kiste. 

STAR
The Haunted House She Calls Her Own
By Gwendolyn Kiste
Apr. 2026. 168p. Raw Dog Screaming, $29.95  (9798900580036); Raw Dog Screaming, paper, $18.95  (9798900580043); e-book (9798900580050). 
First published April 1, 2026 (Booklist).

Fresh off her Bram Stoker Award for the The Haunting of Velkwood, Kiste returns with an excellent collection of 16 stories (3 new) further solidifying her place as the standard bearer for immersive, beautifully terrifying feminist horror. Populated by forgotten women existing on the margins often subjected to violence link in a haunting story of sisters told through the rules of a sinister board game in “Sister Glitter Blood” or how a side character in Dracula gets her revenge on the violence done to all women, throughout history in “The Eight People Who Murdered Me” or the visceral, magical, body horror inflicted upon fashion designer’s latest muse in “Her Skin a Grim Canvas” or an annual murder, thought provoking and upsetting, beautiful and horrible, repeated near the end of the world “Ides”, in Kiste’s deft hands these women come out of the shadows, overlooked no more. Readers are oriented and  invested immediately, even in the weirdest and darkest of stories. They feel the narrator’s fear, anger, rage and yearning right alongside them. It is a remarkable feat sustained from cover to cover. Readers who want more (and they will) should try Hailey Piper, Cassandra Khaw, and Rachel Eve Moulton. 

Three Words That Describe This Book: Weird, Beautiful, Terrifying

Further Appeal: Real talk before we get started here. I kept waiting for there to be a story that wasn't one of theist I have read in a while. It did not happen, hence the starred review. Seriously, I am very tough on collections. There needs to be ZERO misses for me to give it a star. Add into this equation, when I already love an author and know they can deliver, when they do not give me starred material, I will not give them a star based on past achievement. I have been reading Kiste since her very first novel, The Rust Maidens, and I have loved every thing she has written since. This collection is no exception. But it is also objectively a great horror story collection.

Unforgettable is the other big word here. Unforgettable narrators, unforgettable stories, unforgettable feeling while reading these stories. But it is also underscored by a terrifying tone throughout. Readers are never given the chance to calm down, we are always on edge here. That is awesome and very hard to sustain across distinct stories.

Her main themes are always the women on the margins, forgotten women, the ones the rest fo the world doesn't notice. People overlook them, but they shouldn't. Sometimes they are the monster, sometimes they are the one who is able to defeat or get revenge on the monster (those are my favorites). 

Her prose is always beautiful without being difficult to read. The cadence of her narrators is easy to fall into. Here in the 16 stories -- 13 of which were previously published across the horror landscape-- every narrator directly connects with the reader-- speaks directly to them, even when not first person. 

A few of these stories are with a second person narration such as the story of 2 sisters across their life hidden in the rules of a haunted house game "Sister Glitter Blood" or in the annotations of a booklet for a cult female film makers retrospective "The Eleven Films of Oona Cashford." Both are very sinister stories. But even with that more detached narration-- readers are drawn in immediately.

And that is a huge feature of every story-- the reader is a participant. No matter how short or long the story is the exact correct length for that story. Readers are invested immediately, which means they feel the unease, dread, fear, terror, whatever the preferred emotion Kiste wants to wring out from that story, you as a reader are there. It is really quite remarkable.

The characters here are women-- almost exclusively. The men who appear are in the background or mentioned by physically absent. One story-- "In the Belly of the Wolf" centers around a young man, but he is not a hero.

The Bram Stoker Award winning story "The Eight People Who Murdered Me (Excerpt from Lucy Westenra's Diary)" is stellar and I am so glad more readers will be able to find it. If you enjoyed RELUCTANT IMMORTALS you have to read this story. It is a Dracula retelling from one of the forgotten side characters pov, but it can be enjoyed without knowing that. It is a story about the violence done to all women always and at all times in history but in Kiste's hands-- the women get revenge on the monsters.

A few more notes. I could have written about every story.

The Sea Witch at the Worlds Fair-- a sea monster comes on shore as a woman and makes a best friend. This one is full of atmosphere.

Her Skin a Grim Canvas-- a young woman is a male fashion designers newest muse. SO GOOD! It is visceral and magical but also terrifying body horror. And there is revenge. For fans of The Rust Maidens for sure.

Ides-- yes it is type of Ides of march story but not like you would expect. Apocalyptic and a woman has to kill another woman every single year on the Ides of March. I do not want to say more but it is not what you think. This might be the best story to describe everything in this collection-- unsettling at first but moving to terrifying, thought provoking, original, beautiful and horrible, a story that will stay with you long after you finish it.

The Mad Monk of Motor City-- A Rasputin retelling -- again I a way you would never expect. 

Best Friends Forever is new to this collection and is a great toxic girl friendship story.

This is from Raw Dog Screaming Press, a smaller press but an established and trusted one, plus they are easily available through Ingram so you don't have to do anything special to get this one.

Readalikes: Kiste's work in any format is the standard for the weird, terrifying, feminist horror. She won the Bram Stoker Award for The Haunting of Velkwood last year beating Tremblay, Malerman, SGJ, and Iglesias. She is the foundation that you can use to send readers to authors like Hailey Piper, Cassandra Khaw, and Rachel Eve Moulton as I mentioned above.

I have another strong story collection up next. When I read it, I thought about Kiste's work as well. This is also by a trusted small press but you will need to work a little harder to order this one. Click here and do that right now.

Unsettled Score: A Mixtape of Psychological, Transgressive, and Art House Horror

By Rebecca Rowland

June 2026. 272p. Lethe, paper, $19  (9781590217887). 
First published April 1, 2026 (Booklist).

Presenting her collection as a musical mixtape complete with 13 earworm inducing “tracks” on two “sides” including a “hidden track” tucked in after the acknowledgments, Shirley Jackson Award finalist Rowland gives readers a fun frame that effortlessly draws them into each story before she violently knocks them off center employing well executed, visceral and psychologically unmooring twists that, in story after story, work in tandem to rhythmically unsettle the reader. Some threats are human, some are supernatural, but all are monsters. For example, in “Mrs. Robinson” an unassuming middle aged woman closing up at work leaves readers speechless by the story’s end, while in “Turn Me Loose,” 80s nostalgia and a creepy doll provide a terrifying bite. With an introduction by horror short story master John Langan, Rowland has announced herself as an author to keep an eye on. For fans of collections with strong, flawed protagonists and a squirm inducing discomfiting tone such as by Gwendolyn Kiste or Clay McLeod Chapman or like in the tales gathered by Ellen Datlow for Screams from the Dark. 

Three Words That Describe This Book: music/album frame, extremely unsettling, horrible but sympathetic main characters

13 tracks (14 actually). Introduction is John Langan who is a master of the Horror short story.

Visceral. Writing draws you in immediately.

The musical frame is fun, the story titles will give readers an ear worm– on purpose. That part is fun, but then the things that happen in these stories are awful. The reader must reckon with that and it enhances the unease– makes everything even more awful, unsettling. And it makes it all feel more real as a result.

Like a great album there is a hidden track. Twists. Rowland keeps you on your toes. But also the way she tells a story has a rhythm– like a great album.

Musical titles. Music is part of many stories. It is the music of the 80s and 90s mostly

Humans AND  supernatural monsters. Some threats human, some supernatural, all monsters

Plays with your emotions and very psychological– the main characters are awful, many criminals, killers, very flawed at least. And yet, with each story, reader is drawn in and attaches to that MC. It is shocking when they betray us and yet, we liked the reading experience. 

And then it repeats– like songs on the same album– each is distinct but together they are united. As a reader you know better but get the horrible twist over and over again. Nothing ends up well here. The first story sets that tone– it is the longest– and it never lets up.

Rock of Ages Longest– sets the weird, unsettling, and uncomfortable tone both in what happens and how Rowland tells a story.

In my opinion, the shortest of the stories are the best here. Favorites include:

• Crash Course in Brain Surgery– a “coven” of women, all friends, who want to feel younger. The last one in their group to try to snare a younger man, but why? Human monsters.
• Wolf Like Me– an inmate’s letter to a long time Boston Globe reporter Human monster but not who you think
• Mrs Robinson– the best one probably. Human monster but man does it sneak up on you!
• Turn Me Loose– a GREAT evil doll story

Critically acclaimed already– look for more from Rowland.

Readalikes: I worked a bunch in up above and linked them. Also a great choice for fans of stories with charming but flawed protagonists like Philip Fracassi, who also has excellent story collections

through Lethe Press here and here.

Also Human Monsters by Hartmann and Saywers would appeal here as well.

Finally a short book that can be read in a sitting or two that will creep you out in a few different ways.

Morsel

by Carter Keane

Apr. 2026. 208p. Tor Nightfire, $24.99  (9781250392459); Tor Nightfire, e-book (9781250392466). 

REVIEW. First published April 1, 2026 (Booklist). 

Generational poverty and a monster in the woods collide viscerally and emotionally in Keane’s debut set in the dense forests of Southeastern Ohio amidst a cicada brood emergence. With her first office job, Lou can finally pull herself and her sick mother into the middle class. Trying to fit in with her coworkers, Lou spent money she didn’t have to attend a conference for a group they all enthusiastically support, and now she is sent off the grid to assess a property for her boss’ not-for-profit. Upon arrival, Lou and her dog Ripley encounter strange charms, are chased by a rabid coyote, and have their escape thwarted when her car won’t start. But Lou is determined to survive no matter who or what is trying to kill them. Text conversations and podcast transcripts about an unsolved disappearance in the same woods, enhance the overall unease and allow the dread to steadily close in, without forecasting the menacing twist, which when set loose, will both terrify and empower. A great choice for fans of The Ritual by Nevill or The Twisted Ones by Kingfisher.

Three Words That Describe This Book: Monster in the Woods, horror of generational poverty, immersive dread

Further Appeal: I will start with-- the dog makes it. This is not a spoiler as readers are promised by the author at the start so I didn’t waste my time saying it in the review.

Other words: debut, folk horror, cicadas, use of texts and podcast transcripts to enhance the dread, Appalachian Noir, human and supernatural monsters, Multi-Level Marketing as a cult, visceral.

Overall feel-- menacing the entire time, terrifying at others, but ultimately empowering.

Lou has finally "made it." Her mom worked as a medical assistant, raising Lou. They figured out a way fro Lou to go to Ohio State -- barely affording it and with lots of sacrifice. Now Lou got the office job she hopes will pull her and her mom out of generational poverty. But Lou is close to losing her job at a property assessment company in the Columbus Ohio area because of her mom being sick.

She doesn't really fit in at work either. Her boss is kind but her co-workers are really agreesive about about the self help MLM they want her to join.

Her boss gives Lou the chance to keep her job by doing a property assessment deed in the forest of Lawrence County OH for his not for profit land conservancy.

These same woods are known for the people who have gone missing in them. Lou and her dog go to do this job, and well....this is a horror novel so things go badly from the start. Weird charms are hung on the fence, her phone doesn't work, a rabid coyote with strange black stuff on its fur chases them, her car won't start. And this is all just the beginning.

The inclusion of texts between Lou and her mom, Lou and her best friend Emma, and the transcripts of a podcast about a hiker who has gone missing in these same woods add to the dread. 

The monster in the woods trope is not easy to pull off well. Keane does a solid job here with their debut. The disorientation and dread are done well at the start. It is a short book and the first third is the set up of Lou, her life, and the human problems here. Then the second third is the danger growing and the terror rising. The final third brings the visceral action and emotional reckoning. 

I can see promise here and would read more by Keane. 

Readalikes: 2 above but also Girl in the Creek by Wendy Wagner is a great readalike. I had to cut it because the other two are better overall, but this readalike hints at another part of the story. This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer, 8114 by Joshua Hull, and The Long Low Whistle by Laurel Hightower are also solid comps.